Mark Woods started his culinary training with his grandmother as a small child, and formally at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville as a private apprentice. As a chef, his travels took him from midtown Atlanta to south Florida and various places throughout the states, ending up with a catering, restaurant and manufacturing business in South Florida feeding spring training baseball players, stars and socialites in Palm Beach. He finds the art of food to be fun and adventurous.

"Inedible Change"

Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2017, at 4:42 PM

Photo from: http://www.forbes.

I got the itch!

I literaly have an itch! This hot then cold weather we are having around here causing all the plants to think it was spring earlier then spring happened didn't help much either! That feeling of seasonal change has really had my skin tingling lately. Spring has now sprung with a vengeance, bringing forth an array of new life so strong, it could make you want to dance. Those gloomy clounds that have been lingering over us for the past few months seem to also be dissipating into the bright, with the sun warming my face so much it may have reached my soul! It's kind of poetic yes? But, can you feel it? I'm really considering crawling out of my cave early this year, maybe meet new people, make new friends, get a new me working so to speak. I might even get the garden started early again this year or plant a new tree. I really hope everyone is feeling it too! My seed catalogs are literally calling my pocketbook and it's all me, not the wrong number if you get my drift!

Change can be nerving for some I guess, or down right scarry if you are so set to a normal routine that requires the change. My changes seem to be not only seasonal, but can be life altering if the very thing I want to change is what I call a "biggie". A biggie, to me is change you may regret later, like a little red corvette in a mid-life crisis or feeling all of the sudden the need to tattoo the cat's name on oneself somewhere. Sometimes drastic changes you can't undo easy, they can impulsively mess things up for the worst! Then there are a few things I wish had never even entered this "ole noggin". It's a whole lot easier for me to think through change before it happens, but that's not always the case.

Some changes are naturally forced and are challenging to oneself. Those kind of changes can keep us on our toes and at times take us where we need to be. Those I can deal with simply by accepting them and moving on. However, there are a few changes that are really difficult, like loosing a pet or God forbid, a loved one. Those are the tough things that bring change that are really hard to deal with! Sudden life episodes and changes like that stay in our hearts and minds for a life time. Sometimes I think I try to prepare myself mentally for an inevitable course or life change but I know that kind of change can never be fully prepared for enough. When you seem to see them coming and then out of the blue something happens and we find ourselves almost immediately having to place change in the front of our lives and adapt on top of any emotions that normally come with that type of forced change. It's never easy to deal with drastic change and being strong minded helps little in those cases but, "time" allows acceptance and it can get easier as time, love, and understanding takes us where we need to be to handle such change.

This "Spring Fever " that I'm feeling is hard to explain, something has to give, something has to change, and at the same time I am seeing the beginning of a new season all around me. With the right perspective we all can adapt, the haze will melt, and it can actually fill up your senses. I assure you that when I look where I've come from and the changes that have taken place there's no regrets. I always have known that I have a higher power watching, guiding and orchestrating even the minutely smallest details of our lives! That is correct "Our Lives", because everything others are doing whether "Sinner or Saint" has to be part of that mainframe of the wheel of life that makes it all work. In other words it takes us all saying kind words or balking the systems for the unjust, for change to be noticed most of the time. I am very thankful to my fellow kind for helping me think and adapt to changes in life. If I forget or miss a "Thank You" on occasion I really mean well all of the time.

I know others are affected by me I've seen it first hand on faces both to the positive and negative side of life, so forgiveness can be divine when I've had my feathers ruffled and at the same time words or expressions placed in or at the right time can change things in many ways and wonders. Change is a must, no two days are alike and change will happen that we all can affect and accept. One thing is certain if we all focus on positive change or help those during difficult change we can make this world a much more pleasant, sweet, and kind place to be on a daily basis!

I recently have had to make a few difficult changes, one is in the way I "eat"which may not have to be on the minds of many, but for a few of us, It's a must! I had to cut the salt, fat, sugar, and anything I indulged in that was endangering my longevity and foods that basically were exacerbating my health conditions as it exist. Besides needing the change, I wanted it also, so far so good! Eating healthier, reducing weight, and eliminating processed foods for heart healthy living is my goal. Here are a few of the types of recipes I have been working on and of course I am always up for suggestions or comments on things that work for you!

Just a note, stay tuned to this blog because I have the itch to blog a little more in the near future. The recipes may or may not appear on some of my blogs, they can be difficult to format and here lately I seem to be on a recipe blog diet! However, I truly love to write!

I have been using this as a recipe so long It's seared in my mind forever! As we all know, olive oil is a better choice all the time. Normally I will marinate the meat for a minimum of 2 hours then drag out my cast iron skillet, get the skillet piping hot and sear the meat for color on both sides. With cast iron or oven safe pans like this, I can run it in a 350 degree oven in the same pan until it's ready to my liking! This recipe is very versatile as well with the addition of any herbs or flavor additions one could imagine of. "Happy Marinating"!

In a gallon size freezer baggie add:

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder

1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder , or 2 small Garlic Cloves (minced)

3/4 Tablespoon Black Pepper, more or less, (I use "Restaurant Grind Pepper" which is slightly coarse)

1 Teaspoon Salt, more or less

(additional)-1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano, if making "Chicken"

Place 2 Chicken Breast or Steaks in baggie, add above ingredients, seal bag and handle moving around until spices are evenly distributed over meat! This recipe can be upscaled accordingly.

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Ever so glad to see you back Chef. After our conversation Friday I hoped, but I also know the challenges.

Diet changes? I should have STUCK to many of the ones I tried over the years, but a shelf of all kinds of delights sits right around the corner from my desk and as one feels bad, they feel the need to have just one reward, then two, ah what the heck I might as well finish it.

I was two pounds shy of my wedding weight, but now have 12 pounds to recapture the magic number. Then I forge ahead to my college graduation weight but probably never my wrestling weight in High School, which is where the charts say I should be. HA!

I look forward to your health recipes 'cause I know you will work hard to keep taste in the very front of all you do.

-- Posted by stevemills on Wed, Mar 22, 2017, at 8:50 AM

Thanks Steve;

Recipes will always be on my mind! I am a major meal planner but, now in a different recipe, heart healthy, direction. I stopped before this past Christmas keeping anything with a calorie or fat gram in the house so I'm not tempted. If it's not even in the house it's not there to look at! At present you won't find any processed food items here either! Seems the nitrates and added inedible ingredients in food today causes me other issues like swollen feet and although this country boy don't mind going barefoot, on occasion I have to be able to get my foot into my shoe!

I have been a weighted guy since I got back from college and then culinary training added a moderate amount which I seemed to stay at for many years. However health issues are the culprit now and have been for the last couple years.

It's not the inactivity that seems to be keeping weight on me! Even at a 1,200 caloric intake down from about almost 3,000 a day I'm loosing vary slow because of one of the medicines I have to be on. One of its side effects is definitely weight gain so, with me it's a harder battle I seem to be fighting.

Normally my blog topics have centered around food because of my chef training and career but religious studies and other topics have been on my mind lately along with the little gardening I do. Speaking of gardens....it's almost time to stick some tomato plants in the ground!

-- Posted by chefgrape on Wed, Mar 22, 2017, at 10:16 AM

Getting close. I wonder if the hat generated by a straw bale garden would be enough to protect an early planted tomato?

Our daughter started tomatoes a few weeks ago under lights. This reminds me that I have not heard progress lately although she has been doing time-lapse videos on other seedlings. No matter how many times I see video like this,I'm fascinated by how much goes on while we are away.

Religious studies could spark some interesting conversations. I've backed off controversial topics lately, not that religion should be, but usually is controversial.

-- Posted by stevemills on Thu, Mar 23, 2017, at 12:37 PM

BY the way, "hat" in my last post should have an "e" before the "a". I have not seen too many hats generated by straw bales. Maybe none.

-- Posted by stevemills on Fri, Mar 24, 2017, at 5:50 PM

I just got an e-mail from an old friend out of town who saw the title of your post, "Inedible Change," and wondered if you meant "Inevitable." I told him I thought you were making a play on words, based on the fact that you're now cutting back on certain foods.